June 2008 Blog Posts (20)

Monday, June 30, 2008: Waves: 2-4 foot south swell. Water clarity: Back to turbid; some fair areas. Water temps: Ocean, back to mid-50s, nearshore; bay, mid-70s.

Winds and occasional cloudbursts are putting a stir into the water.
Bassing slow to very slow. Some stripers can still be found near beachfront jetties, using clams or small plugs, nothing big, though.
Fluking is an… Continue

Saturday, June 28, 2008: waves: Building 2-4 foot south groundswell. Water clarity: Excellent. Water temps: Mid-60s.

The above data should tell you some major changes have taken place along the beachfront. Very pretty water has edged in on the lap of the offshore breezes. It’s not only cleaner but warmer, almost 8 degrees higher than yesterday –as is prone to happen this time of year when scalding air temps warm the ocean’s surface… Continue

Thursday, June 26, 2008: Waves: 1-2 feet out of the south. Currents: Light south to north. Water temps: Mid-50s. Water clarity: Variable; fair to good.

This semi-freakish coldwater syndrome continues. The south winds will not allow warmer water to move in near the beach – and it’s not that warm even further out. We’re to the point in the year where we could be seeing water temps in the upper 60s (though 63 to 65 is more the norm).… Continue

SWEET!: As I constantly explore new taste-ifications in seafood – I’m already famed for my bunker oil biscuits – I was thumbs upping the choice of Kelsey Nixon as the Episode 4 Fresh Fish Challenge winner on the show “The Next Food Network star.”
With a theme of seafood, she came up with White Chocolate Macadamia Crusted Tilapia.
Wow, you go… Continue

Monday, June 23, 2008: Waves: Choppy 2- 2.5 feet, south wind swell. Water clarity: Variable, but mainly dirty. Water temps: Stuck in the mid 50s due to steady south winds. Out a ways, water temps are mid-60s, as was the case for those fishing makos over the weekend.
Kingfish are on-scene. Some are larger brands. Boy would many of us love to see an upbeat kingfish year. Most of you recall that maybe 5 years back we had… Continue

Friday/Saturday, June 20/21, 2008: Waves: Small. Water clarity: Improving; good to very good. Water temps: Wide swings, especially near inlets; upper 50s to md-60s.
Let’s turn to fluke first. I’ve gotten more reports of good fluking despite a high throwback count. Consistent with the way it’s been all spring, the fishing pressure for flatties is itself flat. I had one fellow on the south end note that he was the only boat fluking in a… Continue

I have to talk about night for a minute. Yep, good old after dark, star-studded night – and how dark it gets.
While darkness at night is hardly a media matter, it can take on serious airs when you’re on a boat that goes down in said darkness.
I’m on this subject in reference to the three Pennsylvania men who spent 8 hours… Continue

OILY FROGS AND SUPPLIMENTS: It was with extreme animation, bordering on lightheadedness, that I took a phone call about the recent wild and wooly meeting of the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France.
My excitation was over the fact that somebody would actually bother me over the frickin meeting of the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France.
First of all, I haven’t liked the French since I read where they don’t… Continue

Sunday, June 15, 2008: Waves: Small. Wind: Light to none. Overcast. Water clarity in surf: Fair to poor; weed and turbidity; can change quickly with these light winds, as cleaner water is near the beach and is working its way in.

With a load of anglers working the surf and nearshore bait pods, some serious fish were taken. Along with a 33-11 surf striper taken by Jay Endick, bound for… Continue

It’s always tough to throw in the “too clean” card but truth be told that’s the hand now being dealt. The water near the beach is immaculate – and cleaner further out. The difference further out is the water depth, which keeps the fish from freaking out with every shadow.

This should be a hugely busy angling weekend. Reasons: 1) Great weather. 2) Light… Continue

Thursday, June 12, 2008: Waves: Generally 1-2 feet from varying direction as winds switch as much as 360 degrees throughout a 24-hour period. Yes, I realize 360 degrees is a total circle but that’s the trend right now as nighttime offshores blend into north and northeast after sunup, then to east midday, followed by south late and back around to offshore after dark. When this… Continue

Despite a calm-down of winds and currents, the bassing remains iffy to non-existent. That’s both surf and sea.
Bluefish are everywhere and, per usual, very receptive.
Fluking is quiet. Not the catching part, that has been fair for keepers and brisk overall. It’s quiet in the fact not many folks are targeting them. Snot grass in factor north end. (See below)

Sunday, June 08, 2008: Waves: 1-2.5-foot medium period groundswell. Water clarity: Fair, cleaning up along the beachfront; excellent from about 100 years out and eastward. Water temps: Still chilled but warming a bit, near 60.

Since the Weather Service has frequently dragged across the glowing coals in chatrooms – where recent storms and winds have caught many mariners unwarned – I have to give them credit for nailing this nasty heat wave. Last week, the first long-range forecasters… Continue

Friday, June 06, 2008: We’re now on the hot side of things, as east winds will shift south and even southwest. Heat will be focused on mainland but there will be plenty of sultry overflows onto LBI, mainly morning hours of or when the winds shift west. The east winds overnight have pushed in warmer water, which will last a short time but could get driven out of upwelling from south winds draws up that very cold water just below the surface. Still, the touch of warmth should spark a more varied… Continue

Thursday, June 05, 2008: There’s change in the air – which is a lot better than the smell of smoke. The winds are around to the north and east. This will likely downwell warmer ocean water, likely pushing in the warmest water of the season by tomorrow. Then the big change begins. The first signs of that scalding summer I’ve been talking about will show – though technically a spring heat wave. Days of 90s – with some mid-90s mainland – will solar heat the ocean if the south winds to kick up too… Continue

Wednesday, June 04, 2008: It was an odd wake-up for much of LBI. Smoke smell. Scary smoke smell.
I along with hundreds of folks jumped up convinced my house was going up, that’s how thick the smell was. Seeing my house was clear, I clicked on the scanner to find the police station had exploded. No, it wasn’t on fire, it was totally crazy with calls about the smoke smell. The poor usually… Continue

As part of my fishing, nature and eco-coverage – all of which conveniently fall under my hyper-heading of “Fish Story.” – I just have to bring you the far-outest of issues crossing my dangerously cluttered desk.
This week I’m in a lather over the latest findings of a world-class environmental organization called the European Commission.
In a sunning, make that stunning report the commissions asserts that dip-happy tourists are killing… Continue

SHOOTOUT AT HAND: This Saturday is the High Point Volunteer Fire Company’s Striper Shootout, Tournament and Fish Fry. Registration deadline for this all-boat event is this Friday at 8 p.m.
And, in deed, it could be a shootout extraordinaire, if the current hookup of major bass continues – as it surely should. The boundaries of the contest extend from the Seaside Heights Ferris Wheel down to the Ship Bottom water tower – the prime location of the recent nearshore bunker-based bite.
The… Continue

Sunday, June 01, 2008: Wind played the ruiner for most folks yesterday but thing slacked off a bit today – though the forecasted west winds waited until afternoon to kick in to clean up the beachside bump in the surf.
For those somewhat-few on the winning side of stripers, things just keep getting bigger, working toward the 50s. As proof, here’s the latest rundown in the 2008 Simply Bassin’ 8-week tourney:
“Gene S.’s breaking of the 40-pound barrier on Thursday loosed the hounds, so… Continue